Thanks Michael - Great post!

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Thanks Michael - Great post!

Posted By: Dien Rice
Date: Wednesday, 27 October 2004, at 9:34 p.m.

In Response To: Profit Potential Of 2nd Hand Books (Michael Ross)

Hi Michael,
I thought that was a great post!
You're right - you CAN get a high mark-up with some second-hand books.
On one university campus here, there's a "book co-op" which lets you stock your own second-hand books. (I think it if it sells, they take something like 28% of what it sells for, and you keep 72%. If it doesn't sell in about a year, they put it in a box for you to pick up, and if you don't pick it up, it goes in the "bargain bin" and it sells for a token amount.)
I have a friend who regularly sells there. He buys his books for under a dollar, and regularly sells them for $5 to $25. The key is knowing what people will buy and how much they're willing to pay for it (and also what the book co-op staff will accept, since they sort through the books you bring, and won't stock everything, since they have an idea of what will sell and what won't).
Every year, at the start of the academic year, is a great time for bookselling for him. He gets the lists of what textbooks are going to be used in the university classes, and looks for second-hand copies he can buy cheaply. Then he stocks them in the book co-op and sells them at a profit.
Anyway Michael - great post about the markup! Of course, you can also sell on Amazon.com and eBay - and if you want to be a "serious player", you can sell on www.abebooks.com too. They charge a flat rate of US$25 per month, plus 8% commission for sales made through them.
Which reminds me - I once bought a book through Abebooks. It was in another city, that I was going to travel to anyway - so I asked if I could just pick it up there, rather than pay for shipping. They said okay, and told me to go to a particular shop to pick it up.
When I went to pick the book up - it was at a hairdressing salon! I think the person I bought it from ran their "online book store" from their home. I think a friend of theirs worked at or owned the salon, so that's why they asked me to pick it up from there. But it shows, you can run a serious online bookstore from your home, using online tools!
(And the price of some out-of-print books can fetch high prices online. I bought a copy of a biography of Kirk Kerkorian, "Kerkorian: An American Success Story", for around $15 a few years ago. Now, the cheapest copy I can find is $95, and the next cheapest copy is $199!)
- Dien

Messages In This Thread

Profit Potential Of 2nd Hand Books
Michael Ross -- Wednesday, 27 October 2004, at 2:18 a.m.

You hit my solar plexus
sandy -- Wednesday, 27 October 2004, at 8:43 p.m.

Re: You hit my solar plexus
Michael Ross -- Monday, 1 November 2004, at 3:07 a.m.

Flea market just around the corner
sandy -- Wednesday, 3 November 2004, at 12:21 p.m.

Thanks Michael - Great post!
Dien Rice -- Wednesday, 27 October 2004, at 9:34 p.m.

Here is How I Make Extra Money "Flipping" Books
James Jones -- Friday, 29 October 2004, at 9:20 a.m.

Re: Here is How I Make Extra Money "Flipping" Books
Michael Ross -- Monday, 1 November 2004, at 3:24 a.m.

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Message: > Hi Michael, > I thought that was a great post! > You're right - you CAN get a high mark-up > with some second-hand books. > On one university campus here, there's a > "book co-op" which lets you stock > your own second-hand books. (I think it if > it sells, they take something like 28% of > what it sells for, and you keep 72%. If it > doesn't sell in about a year, they put it in > a box for you to pick up, and if you don't > pick it up, it goes in the "bargain > bin" and it sells for a token amount.) > I have a friend who regularly sells there. > He buys his books for under a dollar, and > regularly sells them for $5 to $25. The key > is knowing what people will buy and how much > they're willing to pay for it (and also what > the book co-op staff will accept, since they > sort through the books you bring, and won't > stock everything, since they have an idea of > what will sell and what won't). > Every year, at the start of the academic > year, is a great time for bookselling for > him. He gets the lists of what textbooks are > going to be used in the university classes, > and looks for second-hand copies he can buy > cheaply. Then he stocks them in the book > co-op and sells them at a profit. > Anyway Michael - great post about the > markup! Of course, you can also sell on > Amazon.com and eBay - and if you want to be > a "serious player", you can sell > on www.abebooks.com too. They charge a flat > rate of US$25 per month, plus 8% commission > for sales made through them. > Which reminds me - I once bought a book > through Abebooks. It was in another city, > that I was going to travel to anyway - so I > asked if I could just pick it up there, > rather than pay for shipping. They said > okay, and told me to go to a particular shop > to pick it up. > When I went to pick the book up - it was at > a hairdressing salon! I think the person I > bought it from ran their "online book > store" from their home. I think a > friend of theirs worked at or owned the > salon, so that's why they asked me to pick > it up from there. But it shows, you can run > a serious online bookstore from your home, > using online tools! > (And the price of some out-of-print books > can fetch high prices online. I bought a > copy of a biography of Kirk Kerkorian, > "Kerkorian: An American Success > Story", for around $15 a few years ago. > Now, the cheapest copy I can find is $95, > and the next cheapest copy is $199!) > - Dien
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